French sovereign risk indicators have intensified as investors assess whether weak growth, large deficits and polarized presidential politics will make it harder to stabilize public debt. France's five-year credit default swap rose to 81 basis points early Friday, the highest default-insurance cost among major European Union countries and the UK, while the 10-year yield touched 4.989% and the premium over German debt reached 152 basis points, both highs not seen since the eurozone debt crisis. Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group, said the widening OAT/Bund spread increasingly reflected concern about French sovereign default risk rather than only market volatility. He linked the deterioration in credit perceptions to a presidential contest in which Jean-Luc Melenchon has proposed cancelling central-bank holdings of French debt and Marine Le Pen has proposed tax cuts and a lower retirement age. Wizman put the probability of an RN-led presidency near 50%, while describing an outright default as a low-probability event. France's debt ratio is expected to reach 122% of gross domestic product next year from 119% this year, with the budget deficit estimated at about 5.4% of GDP and debt-servicing costs rising. Scope Ratings cut France's rating to A+ from AA- last month, citing political fragmentation, difficulty meeting deficit targets and risks to fiscal consolidation. The widening French-German spread continues to focus attention on whether the European Central Bank could eventually be pressed to deploy its unused bond-market support tools.